Instructions

Combine all of the ingredients except for the sliced shiitake into a shallow glass pyrex or bowl. Whisk to combine.

Add in the sliced shiitake, and stir gently to combine. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes to an hour.

Place the shiitake in a single layer onto the silpat. Bake for 10 minutes, flip, then bake for an additional 15 minutes*. Increase the heat to 375, then bake for 10 minutes more. Flip, then finish for 10 more minutes. Keep an eye on them towards the end to ensure they do not burn.

Remove from the oven and place on paper towels to drain. As they drain, the edges will become crispy. Serve immediately.

Notes

*Baking times will differ based on the thickness and type of shiitake you are using. After baking for 15-20 minutes, just keep an eye on them to prevent burning.

Thank you! I think using dry ones would work. I would rehydrate them fully, slice, rehydrate again, pat dry, then marinate. I think it would give a different texture than with fresh, but in a good way. Good luck!

Wow, I just made these tonight and I am shocked at how closely they tasted like bacon. I even fooled my girlfriend (who isn't vegan) when I had her blindly try them and she thought she ate bacon! Thanks for the recipe!

OMG I just made these tonight and they were AMAZING!!! Thank you soo much for this creative, tasty treat! I tell you I LOVE BACON, I mean Love it so I was praying this was gonna be good, and it was!!!! From a soul food sista this bacon is on Point! It will help me as I walk this plant based journey! Again thanks! Blessings

I made these with local organic shitakes and they were gone in a flash between me and the kids. I can't wait to see if they have flower mushrooms at our local asian market. I think a little thicker would make them absolutely divine. Love this recipe! Thank you!

First – two cups was not nearly enough. More like 20 cups. These are so incredibly delicious. Second – I'd love to feature these in a recipe on my blog, with full credit of course. I'll shoot you an email!

Hi maria, shiitakes are best for this, but if you can't get your hands on them, portobellas should produce a similar result. But I can't guarantee since I've never tried it. I would think that since portos are less porous, you would need to up the marinade level — maybe double it? Good luck!

I just finished the baby bellas. If the shitakes are better, I will be in heaven. I had to use a double batch of marinade. I need to make more!!!!!!!!!! My kids love bacon and hate mushrooms. I guaranteed them that they will love these shrooms, if there are any left by the time I serve dinner.

Amazing recipe! These were the closest thing to actual bacon I've had in five years. The cooking time was too long for me, but your comment about checking after the first 25 minutes was spot on… if only I was better at following directions, I wouldn't have ended up with half a burnt batch! 🙂 Hopefully this will help the next person. I'm not sad that I'll have to try them again very soon!

Thank you so very much for sharing this unbelievable recipe! Both myself and my omniverous partner thought this was truly indistinguishable from (very, very good) bacon. I liked it so much that I made it part of my recipe for vegan potato and leek soup (http://rivelsandgrits.com/vegan-potato-and-leek-soup)!

Hello, Have I read the quantities correctly; is it one tablespoon of olive oil and everything else is measured in teaspoons? It does not seem to make much liquid; not enough to cover all of the mushrooms. I see another reply said to use twice as much oil. Is it only the olive oil that you double or do you use twice the amount of all the ingredients? Thanks.

OMG – I just tried this and I can not believe how close to bacon it is. I have tried substitutes in the frozen section of my market, and they sort of didn't sit well with me. I love the smell of bacon, and remember the taste being heaven, but the fake ones were always just a little odd to me. THIS…this is absolutely like heaven. The consistency, the taste…everything about it is exactly how I remember bacon. I tried a small batch with Shiitake I had left, and now am running to the market to get some more. Thanks so much for a superb recipe!!

Just tried your recipe with a little tweaking: I used 2 dried smoked chipotle peppers and an assortment of already thinly sliced dehydrated mushrooms. I covered the smoked peppers in a pot with water, cooked them on low for 20 minutes. In a separate bowl I kept the dried mushrooms. After the smoked peppers softened, I poured that liquid over the dehydrated mushrooms. In 20 minutes the mushrooms were rehydrated. I drained and squeezed the liquid off the mushrooms. When that was done, I picked up your recipe, but added 1/4 tsp of maple syrup. Following the rest of your directions, it came out the way I expected. Never done this before, but your recipe was spot on. I can almost taste recipes when I read them, I knew this was a good one.Thanks for your amazing recipe. Thinking about trying eggplant and, coconut flakes too. Hmm

Arye, love your modifications and so happy you were able to create a vegan bacon to your liking! Thanks for sharing what you did. Isa Chandra has a great eggplant bacon recipe in the new edition of Vegan with a Vengeance:

Oh my. I tried making rice paper bacon and was disappointed. Then I came across this recipe and just ate half of the pan with nothing else. Thank you so much for sharing such a delicious recipe I believe my omnivore family member would also enjoy!

Well, I burnt them! BUT the tiny burnt pieces DO taste like bacon! Two of us ate them as condiments on a kale salad and loved it. Two didn’t like the burnt taste. So I’ll make these again, and watch more carefully. My other mistakes– I used shiitakes, but they were super small, which made even smaller bacon pieces. Nothing like the slices in the photo. Plus I waited to make it until the small shiitakes shrunk a bit in the fridge. 🙂 Can’t wait to try with larger mushrooms and I’ll use the tip to double the marinade. Thank you!!!! My vegan daughter thanks you, too!

your recipe is incredible!! I used big portobellos I marinated for a few hours in a ziplock bag.baked then rolled in a flour tortilla with romaine, sliced tomato and vegan mayo. absolutely fabulous!! I quadrupled the sauce with a pound of mushrooms. next time I will try it with shiitakes. thanks for this one, its a keeper!!

I love bacon and hate the fake bacon in the grocery store so I thought I would give this a try. I just did a few mushrooms (in case I didn’t like it) and just used olive oil, liquid smoke, salt and pepper. It was really, REALLY good – I ate every one like a snack!! I will make with sesame oil too next time. It was sort of a pain turning them and I think would take a long time to turn each one if you fix a lot, could you just stir them around rather than turn one at a time? Thanks so much for a great recipe and a bacon substitute I can actually embrace!

I’m going to try putting them on a cooling rack on a sheet pan and see if that works without turning them like I do my fries – hope that works!
Also – how long can you keep these in refrigerator in sealed container?

Trackbacks

[…] In lieu of heavy cream (which also happens to be heavy in calories and fat), this recipe gets a slim-down with pumpkin puree, but still gets a hit of bacon from a crumbled bacon topping. Vegetarian? Swap the chicken stock for vegetable stock, and omit the bacon or use soy bacon or make-your-own shitake bacon (yes, you read that right), like this one from Olives for Dinner. […]

[…] to make vegan bacon, some more convincing than others. But a jaw-droppingly delicious version is this one from Olives for Dinner that uses shiitake mushrooms. When crispy, they’re just like the ends of bacon, but without all […]